Feuilletons and Causeries on a Variety of Subjects

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Ocean Park

It was my friend Lynette who opened my eyes to the “Ocean Park” series of abstract paintings by Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993). Ordinarily, I dislike nonrepresentational art; but in Diebenkorn’s case, I’ll make an exception. He moved in Los Angeles around the same time I did, and I found his choice of colors reminded me of the Santa Monica neighborhood after which this series is named.

Usually, colors alone do not mean much to me. In the case of Mark Rothko, for example, they mean less than nothing. In “Ocean Park #40” above, I could probably find something like that particular pattern somewhere along Ocean Park Boulevard.

Ocean Park #105

The same goes for “Ocean Park #105” above.

I wonder, if the color scheme of an abstract painting suggests something to me, can it really be said to be abstract at all?

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3 thoughts on “Ocean Park”

Yes, something about the color and form that evoke that neighborhood. But then, I really like Diebenkorn. I knew some artists in his circle of friends in the old days, when I had a work study job for a sculptor on 3rd street. I lived right by OP Boulevard, so I find these paintings especially moving, though abstract. The first time I ever “got” abstract sculpture was when I saw the Red Cube In New York. I had to see it “right in my face” in that setting, though. Photographs don’t do it justice.